Comments on: Stephen Fry and Ian McKellen pay to save The Hobbit pub from trademark trollshttp://boingboing.net/2012/03/22/stephen-fry-and-ian-mckellen-p.html
Brain candy for Happy MutantsMon, 15 Sep 2014 23:11:17 +0000hourly1http://wordpress.org/?v=4.2.2By: Ipohttp://boingboing.net/2012/03/22/stephen-fry-and-ian-mckellen-p.html#comment-1378346
Sat, 24 Mar 2012 00:46:00 +0000http://boingboing.net/?p=150754#comment-1378346 Dwarf or dwarve?
]]>By: Camp Freddiehttp://boingboing.net/2012/03/22/stephen-fry-and-ian-mckellen-p.html#comment-1377882
Fri, 23 Mar 2012 14:25:00 +0000http://boingboing.net/?p=150754#comment-1377882I think this is defending the wrong people. As the update states, this isn’t an old village pub being sued by a global megacorp for having the wrong name.
They’ve shamelessly ripped off the movie stills for promotional material. Even the sign outside the pub is a picture of the movie cast.
As the update says, the licensing company is being pretty generous by offereing them a license, rather than suing them to hell and back for all manner of trademark and copyright violations.
Let them pay or let them stop ripping off the movie. If they were just a pub called the hobbit (of which I’m sure there are several), they’d never have been ‘threatened’.

It does remind me of a local pizza place that was called “Belushi’s” until the estate of a Mr. John Belushi sent them an angry letter. It’s no called “Capone’s”, presumably because the Al Capone’s surviving relatives are less likely to sue (though I think the owner should be wary of people with baseball bats).

]]>By: JhmLhttp://boingboing.net/2012/03/22/stephen-fry-and-ian-mckellen-p.html#comment-1377735
Fri, 23 Mar 2012 08:03:00 +0000http://boingboing.net/?p=150754#comment-1377735Bad publicity. It exists, Jackson.
]]>By: Donald Petersenhttp://boingboing.net/2012/03/22/stephen-fry-and-ian-mckellen-p.html#comment-1377666
Fri, 23 Mar 2012 03:55:00 +0000http://boingboing.net/?p=150754#comment-1377666There used to be a bookstore on L.A.’s Westside called A Change of Hobbit. That was the store where Harlan Ellison sat in the storefront window and wrote stories on a couple occasions. I guess it wasn’t Saul Zaentz who put them out of business, since
The Other Change of Hobbit has been open in Berkeley since 1977.
]]>By: DeargDoomhttp://boingboing.net/2012/03/22/stephen-fry-and-ian-mckellen-p.html#comment-1377572
Fri, 23 Mar 2012 01:26:00 +0000http://boingboing.net/?p=150754#comment-1377572

Schizophrenic mathematician John Nash had an experiment which he called “Fuck You, Jack”, based on the expectation that, when given a chance, people would always be nasty and petty with each other, but they weren’t.

By any chance, has this sentence been influenced by Adam Curtis’ remarkably unfair representation of Nash?

]]>By: lightgeisthttp://boingboing.net/2012/03/22/stephen-fry-and-ian-mckellen-p.html#comment-1377391
Thu, 22 Mar 2012 22:38:00 +0000http://boingboing.net/?p=150754#comment-1377391 well first of all the colours white and grey will obviously belong to them for the rest of eternity and beyond. then anything representing an eye will get problematic too. finally, anything “evil” will also have to come up with a new word to call itself. maybe anti-happy?
]]>By: Jameshttp://boingboing.net/2012/03/22/stephen-fry-and-ian-mckellen-p.html#comment-1377384
Thu, 22 Mar 2012 22:31:00 +0000http://boingboing.net/?p=150754#comment-1377384The whole thing stinks, though hats off to them for defending the pub.

If a major classical piece of literature passes several ideas, or “intellectual” bits, such as nouns or adjectives over into everyday language, and other users of that language decide to not appropriate, but use those (more or less) common words in non-derogatory ways, then FFS what is their problem??

FWIW this isn’t the only Hobbit pub, but I probably ought to shut up now….

]]>By: ShawShawhttp://boingboing.net/2012/03/22/stephen-fry-and-ian-mckellen-p.html#comment-1377149
Thu, 22 Mar 2012 18:56:00 +0000http://boingboing.net/?p=150754#comment-1377149Now wait a moment. I thought that was spelled Mr. NIPPL-E. That’s a HYPHEN there before the E. Very important, you know.
]]>By: EHhttp://boingboing.net/2012/03/22/stephen-fry-and-ian-mckellen-p.html#comment-1377144
Thu, 22 Mar 2012 18:53:00 +0000http://boingboing.net/?p=150754#comment-1377144 “unnecessary pettiness” and Fry said it was “self-defeating bullying”.

Both are historically proven sources of profit.

]]>By: Xofhttp://boingboing.net/2012/03/22/stephen-fry-and-ian-mckellen-p.html#comment-1377132
Thu, 22 Mar 2012 18:39:00 +0000http://boingboing.net/?p=150754#comment-1377132I am given to understand that Zanz can’t dance. Can anyone confirm or deny this allegation?
]]>By: Andrew Singletonhttp://boingboing.net/2012/03/22/stephen-fry-and-ian-mckellen-p.html#comment-1377127
Thu, 22 Mar 2012 18:33:00 +0000http://boingboing.net/?p=150754#comment-1377127Something that used to be named sorta like Obitts.
]]>By: Categoryhttp://boingboing.net/2012/03/22/stephen-fry-and-ian-mckellen-p.html#comment-1377119
Thu, 22 Mar 2012 18:28:00 +0000http://boingboing.net/?p=150754#comment-1377119That pub used to be my local when I lived in Southampton. I drank there, played a few gigs there, fell in love with a barmaid there.. I’m glad to hear these fine folks are saving it. It just wouldn’t be the same without the lotr paraphernalia and cocktails. Trust me, nothing beats a pint of Gollum :-D
]]>By: Andrew Singletonhttp://boingboing.net/2012/03/22/stephen-fry-and-ian-mckellen-p.html#comment-1377120
Thu, 22 Mar 2012 18:28:00 +0000http://boingboing.net/?p=150754#comment-1377120Nevermind Shire is a term in of itself. As well try trademarking Wizard, or Dwarf…

Where does this madness end?

]]>By: Andrew Singletonhttp://boingboing.net/2012/03/22/stephen-fry-and-ian-mckellen-p.html#comment-1377118
Thu, 22 Mar 2012 18:26:00 +0000http://boingboing.net/?p=150754#comment-1377118As Corporations are Persons would that mean that there is a predisposition to Sociopathic Tendencies by these Persons?

Can we mandate, as a result, some form of treatment to mitigate these tendencies?

]]>By: BlackPandahttp://boingboing.net/2012/03/22/stephen-fry-and-ian-mckellen-p.html#comment-1377116
Thu, 22 Mar 2012 18:24:00 +0000http://boingboing.net/?p=150754#comment-1377116It’s an excellent music venue as well, be that reggae, metal or psytrance. :P
]]>By: EggyToasthttp://boingboing.net/2012/03/22/stephen-fry-and-ian-mckellen-p.html#comment-1377113
Thu, 22 Mar 2012 18:20:00 +0000http://boingboing.net/?p=150754#comment-1377113I’m not entirely sure these lawyers are copyright trolls. It says in the article that the pub serves beverages and food named from the book, uses images from the film in its decorations and such, and even has Elijah Wood as Frodo on its member card.

Not sure that’s all that different from an “unlicensed LOTR-themed pub,” to be honest.

]]>By: jowlseyhttp://boingboing.net/2012/03/22/stephen-fry-and-ian-mckellen-p.html#comment-1377084
Thu, 22 Mar 2012 17:48:00 +0000http://boingboing.net/?p=150754#comment-1377084“The Pub Formerly Known As something like ‘The H0bit’.”
]]>By: Josh Vogthttp://boingboing.net/2012/03/22/stephen-fry-and-ian-mckellen-p.html#comment-1377079
Thu, 22 Mar 2012 17:45:00 +0000http://boingboing.net/?p=150754#comment-1377079You might be interested to know that the Saul Zaentz Company–the same company that initially took action against The Hobbit pub–is also trying to trademark Tolkien terms like “Shire.” Have a report on it here: http://www.examiner.com/tolkien-in-national/mymiddle-earth-net-kicks-of-save-the-shire-trademark-campaign
]]>By: Randall "texrat" Arnoldhttp://boingboing.net/2012/03/22/stephen-fry-and-ian-mckellen-p.html#comment-1377038
Thu, 22 Mar 2012 17:04:00 +0000http://boingboing.net/?p=150754#comment-1377038I want to pay for Mr Fry’s and Sir McKellen’s first drinks.
]]>By: Randall "texrat" Arnoldhttp://boingboing.net/2012/03/22/stephen-fry-and-ian-mckellen-p.html#comment-1377035
Thu, 22 Mar 2012 17:03:00 +0000http://boingboing.net/?p=150754#comment-1377035Still has that offending, protected word in it. ;)
]]>By: gadgetphilehttp://boingboing.net/2012/03/22/stephen-fry-and-ian-mckellen-p.html#comment-1377007
Thu, 22 Mar 2012 16:49:00 +0000http://boingboing.net/?p=150754#comment-1377007I guess there’s not enough room on the sign in front to change it to “The Pub Formerly Known As ‘The Hobbit’.”
]]>By: Randall "texrat" Arnoldhttp://boingboing.net/2012/03/22/stephen-fry-and-ian-mckellen-p.html#comment-1377002
Thu, 22 Mar 2012 16:45:00 +0000http://boingboing.net/?p=150754#comment-1377002I don’t see how anyone has much choice: pay or the pub loses rights to use the name they’ve had for a very long time. Reality sucks in this case.
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